Project EA
by Kegami96
Summary: He wakes up one day with nothing to him, not even a name. He runs, but that can't solve everything, and he finds himself thrown into a life alongside elements, magic, fake people, and broken pasts, all while being chased by the government for something he doesn't know he has. And who's the other nine? Will their paths meet, and will he ever find out about his purpose - his Project?
1. Chapter 1

He was running, that was all he knew. Running fast as he could, away from...

Something.

Anything.

Everything.

Who was he? Why was he running? Where was he going?

He couldn't really think; everything was fuzzy. It was like his memories were on a movie tape, and it was being slowly unraveled, floating away into oblivion until he couldn't remember what he had been doing, where he was born, what he was good at, or even his name. He just knew one thing...

He had been inside of a small white room, with his eyes closed, and his senses started coming in slowly. First it was sound, the crackle of electricity (he knew it was, but he didn't know how he knew) and a soft, constant thumping noise from within him.

 _My heartbeat._

After that had been feelings, he was lying on something cold and smooth, and the air was still but cold. Something was pricking his left hand. After that it was the smell similar to that of a doctor's office, and then he opened his eyes.

He couldn't really look around, but it was gray and it had the feeling of being underground. There was a girl with long blue pigtails standing on his left, doing something with his left hand. She noticed him awake and quickly finished; the pricking feeling in his hand disappeared. She pat him on the head and helped him stand up by holding his shoulders. After that, she thrust a silver chain with a pendant on the end around his neck and then, once he was steady on his feet, she told him one word that changed his life forever. He could tell she didn't want to from those dark green eyes, but she told him anyways.

"Run."

She said it with such seriousness he didn't doubt her. There was a dark tunnel to his right, and he bolted towards it. However, he stopped at the opening.

The woman, who was about twenty, still had the heartbroken but serious look on her face. "I love you. Run."

And so... he did. He didn't know the girl, but he was pretty sure she was supposed to be important to him. And even though he knew absolutely nothing, not even his name...

He knew that, somehow, he loved her back, in the sense a son would love his mother.

* * *

He ran for who knows how long through that tunnel, until it started sloping upwards and ended up running towards the light. He was tired beyond belief, he wanted to rest, but he had to keep running for that woman down there. At least until he got out of the darkness. He didn't like it, but he didn't not like it either. His chest ached, and he put a hand to the fabric on it in an attempt to stop his racing heart.

The light enveloped him, and he was suddenly out in the open, surrounded by color. He had to blink several times to get used to it, but he did eventually. He was in a green grass field. The wind was hot, and he was glad the clothing he wore was thin. There was a row of buildings to his right, and there was something crossing the field in front of him to another row of buildings to his left. It was a girl, he knew that much.

He didn't know what to do. He looked behind him and saw the door he'd run through was a hole in the grassy terrain, and it was closing. He didn't mind, he had a feeling he didn't want to go back. Though he felt sorry for that woman...

"Heyyy! You!"

He turned around and saw the girl running towards him. She had yellow-blond hair that was short and tied with a bow. A pair of headphones adorned her ears, and he wondered why she was wearing them out here. Her eyes were a mix of teal and cerulean, and she was looking at him questioningly. She wore a white tank top with a black jacket over it, black shorts with a gold chain, and white and yellow sneakers. As soon as she saw his face, she gasped and skidded to a stop.

"L-Len?"

He tilted his head. Len? What was that?

The girl dropped the bag that was over one shoulder and ran towards him at a high speed, and he barely kept his balance when she ran into him, giving him a bone-crushing hug.

"Len! I knew you were okay! I knew it!" She looked up at him, beaming, until she saw the thoroughly confused look on his face. Her happy face turned into a sad one. "Len? It's me. Rin? Remember? We're..." She looked down at his neck and saw the pendant on the necklace. "Hey, where'd you get this? Did Dr. Hatsune make some new thing for you and the others?"

Man, this girl was confusing. She said her name was Rin though. He looked down at the pendant around his neck with her. The chain was made of silver - probably real, too. The pendant was a rounded, 3D oval that was made of pure white marble, with a streak of gold through the center like a bolt of lightning. On his left was a pink-tinted wing attached to the side, and on the right a blue-tinted one. When Rin turned it over, the numbers 02 were engraved on the back, and underneath was the words Kagamine Len.

"See? It's yours," Rin said, pointing to the name. The boy - now known as Len - frowned. He didn't know anything except the woman with blue hair from the underground room and this girl, who was a height of 4' 9", and himself, who was 5' 1". Just for the record. And the order to run, but he thought h was safe for now.

Rin looked up at him. "Len? Is this you or is it a copy...?" Without warning, she pulled his left sleeve off his shoulder. He made a little grunting noise and then gasped as he saw what was engraved into his skin: large red letters - 02 - with the same name below in capital letters, KAGAMINE LEN. It didn't hurt, but it looked like the words were printed on his skin in the same manner as ink to a piece of paper. Rin sighed in relief, and Len took a step back.

"Len? What's wrong? This is the real you, but you haven't said anything yet. What happened? Did something happen with Dr. Hatsune?" Rin asked him a flurry of questions. Len opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again, not knowing what to say. Like, cool it, dude, I just woke up thirty minutes ago and I've spent most of my waking moments running from something. Sorry.

"-And lastly, why the heck are we still standing here, we should go home, come on, we're leaving, I don't care about you until we get inside our house, gimme your hand and follow me," Rin finished, reaching out and grabbing his right hand. He stumbled as she settled for a hard jog and grabbed her bag off the grass as they passed it. Len could only think of all the things that had happened that had happened. First, the woman from the underground room - he guessed she was the Dr. Hatsune that Rin kept mentioning - that had told him to run away from something, which he had done. Second, this Rin girl, who apparently knew him, but the movie tape of his life had unreeled and he couldn't really remember much except No. 02 and the events of the last thirty or so minutes. Third, the pendant, which he knew was important, so he had better not take it off.

Speaking of other strange accessories you shouldn't take off, Len realized he was wearing a set of headphone things just like Rin. He opted to not take those off either.


	2. Chapter 2

Rin arrived at one of the brick and stone buildings - she called them houses - that was inside a cluster of other houses - that was called a neighborhood. Len felt like he should have known these things. The girl opened the door and shoved the boy inside before going over the threshold herself and closing it. She dumped her white-with-gold-embellishments messenger bag on the hardwood floor and kicked her shoes into a pile of others similar to them.

"Mommm! I'mma homeeeeee!" Rin yelled down the hallway to the left. The smells of something delicious wafted out from what Len somehow knew to be a kitchen at the end.

"Okay! Do your homework! Don't just daydream, okay honey? You're free until six!" called back a motherly voice. Rin yelled back an assent before running off down a stairway to the right leading down, Len in tow.

He had no idea what was happening.

Oh well. Rin wasn't letting him go.

"Okay, Mister Kagamine Len," Rin said firmly, planting him in the center of her strangely clean room. He would look around later; for now he didn't want to move his eyes from the soft but steady glare on her face. "What the heck happened down in Lab 27?"

Len gave no response. Rin shook his shoulders, glare hardening by a fraction of a percent. "Hey! Talk to me! You haven't said a single word yet!"

Len decided to shut her up by speaking. His voice was two octaves higher than he expected it to be, just an octave lower than the teenage girl's. "S-sorry... Rin? I- I don't really understand..."

Rin shut up, true to his predictions. She frowned as she looked over his face, which was written over in confusion. Then her eyes teared up at the edges, but she said nothing. She shook her head, then gripped him by the shoulders and planted him in front of a full-length mirror against a wall. When she spoke, she sounded angry, scared and on the verge of tears all at once.

"Do you recognize yourself? Please, please tell me you recognize yourself!"

Len looked over the boy in mirror before him. He had hair the same color as Rin's, sticking out in any way it could, including a random tuft in the back that stuck nearly straight up. The headphones covered his ears, but he could still hear perfectly. He was wearing what looked like a modified sailor's shirt, white with a black collar, and t-shirt sleeves. He wore black shorts with a gold chain thing on one side, which went to his knees before being overtaken by black leg warmers and white sneakers. Arm warmers/bracers adorned his forearms, black with gold lining, and his eyes and facial features were nearly the same as Rin's. But...

"I don't..."

Rin choked on a sob before tearing out of the room, slamming the door. Len decided to let her clam down from whatever was bothering her (ah, oblivious boys...) as he looked around. The room was rectangular, with white walls on the short sides and black paint on the long ones. They were all adorned with shelves and pictures, some framed and some tacked down onto corkboards. The shelves were painted white or yellow contrasting the wall, and were filled with girly trinkets like old lip gloss containers, tooth fairy tooth holders, notes written and never passed, music boxes, and an iPod Shuffle or two plus earbuds. There was a bed next to the mirror, twin size, with white painted wood and two mattresses and four blankets in black, gold, white, and more gold. A nightstand was next to it, with an unshaded lamp that was just a bare bulb on a stick. The drawers of the dresser next to the closet on the same wall as the door had their contents peeking out, the leg of a pair of jeans, straps to undershirts of various colors, and a couple stubbornly long paintbrushes and electrical cords from the bottom three drawers. The closet was closed, and the rest of the room was bare except a threadbare white rug in the center with gold designs that reflected the light from the bulbs overhead. It was nice.

Len sat down on the bed, feeling the soft comforters beneath his hands. He removed his boots and arm bracers before lying down on it. It reminded him of how he'd woke up and been introduced to the world, and eventually he fell asleep on them.

* * *

Rin returned from crying ready to yell at Len or explain to him, whichever tore out of her throat first. However, when she opened the door to her gold and monochrome room she found him asleep on the left side of the bed, clutching the golden blanket with both hands, rolled onto his side away from her. She sighed and decided to let him rest - if the kid had lost his memory, he'd need it to mull over things. She mentally slapped herself a little for not picking up on it sooner - she'd given him too much to think about.

She, too, removed extra accessories - a couple golden bracelets and the black jacket - before climbing into bed on the right side, underneath the covers, just to separate their bodies. She fell asleep soon after as well, ready for Saturday to come so se could figure out this weird mess that was her brother, Kagamine Len.

Or was it really her brother...?

 **TAHDUM! YEAH! I forgot to do ANs last chapter but who frikking cares? Review if you like it... I could use some motivation... *Ahem* This won't all be about Len, but the first three chapters are mostly. Then we split off into the seven or so POVs of the other nine. But why are these ten people so special? Why is there people out to get them? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO LEN? Not that anybody cares.**

 **Anyways, see you next time! ~Kara**

 **Today's completely random anime/Vocaloid fact is about Angel Beats!: Kanade means "to play" or "to play a song" and Otonashi means "on a string," and collectively their names mean "to play on a string." It is unknown if this was intentional. NEXT FACT: About Vocaloid!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hiya! Chapter Three is up now! And just to warn you: this is a chapter I wrote about 4 months ago. It reallllly sucks. Whatever, right? I'm introducing some new characters here. And... yeah. Some of them might look like how you imagine and some I might have changed because I felt like it. Have fun.**

 **I don't own Vocaloid... I wish I did though.**

Len awoke to the sounds of what he assumed was Rin rustling a lot of fabric. He didn't make any sounds, but rolled over, pulling all four blankets over himself in the process. Rin sighed and he heard her footsteps go over to him before she yanked his warm, safe haven of comforters off of his body. He groaned but still didn't open his eyes.

"C'mon, sleepyhead. It's noon already. Up."

"Nnnnnnoooo..." Len moaned. He wanted to stay on the bed under the blankets, in the realm of sleep where his amnesia and confusing orders couldn't reach. Plus, he liked laying down because it reminded him of coming into the world on that stone table. He curled up into a ball to conserve the warmth that the blankets had provided.

"Honestly, you're such a child..." Rin sighed, shoving him off the bed.

"Sorry, I was only born yesterday," Len said, giving up and sitting up on the floor cross-legged, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Somehow his headset had stayed on through the ungraceful fall. He lifted a tired finger to indicate a mistake. "Correction: I only have memories since yesterday."

"That's it then," Rin said, throwing her hands into the air. "You're either pulling a really good prank - which I wouldn't put past you - or you're being serious, but I know you wouldn't lie so openly about something this serious, so I'll fill you in." Len sat on the edge of the bed, ready to listen.

"Your name is Kagamine Len, though I'm pretty sure you know that. I'm Kagamine Rin - did you know our names mean Mirror Left and Mirror Right? Weird, huh? Anyway, we're fourteen and identical twins, besides the gender difference. You've been homeschooled your whole life because you use to be really introverted, and I went to high school. Dr. Hatsune's full name is Hatsune Miku, she's a family friend and part-time alchemist. Pretty cool, if you ask me, which you didn't, but whatever. I dunno how you got amnesia, you went into the lab about a week ago and didn't come home until now. We thought Dr. Hatsune accidentally killed you and didn't come to tell us. But you're alive now...

"I think that without memories, you'll be less introverted, so on Monday we're taking you to school, okay? It's an A-Day B-Day thing, so don't get too confused with that day-old brain, okay?" She had a guilty look in her eyes, but Len didn't catch it. If he had, he would have pestered her until he figured out why.

"Hey!" Len said in protest. "Just because I only have memories of yesterday doesn't mean I don't remember things!"

Rin smiled (it was mischievous, but not a smirk) and put a hand to her chin in thought. She then said suddenly, "What's seven times seven?"

"Forty-nine, duh," Len said, standing up. "I'm going upstairs. Bye."

"Wait for me!" Rin said, quickly changing out of her outfit she'd slept in while Len's hand was on the doorknob and his back was to her. She changed into an outfit similar to his, with a shorter tank top instead of a tee, shorter shorts, and a big white bow on her head. Len raised an eyebrow at her choice of matching outfits.

"Meh," she shrugged, in response to his unanswered question. "I've always wanted to do this, but we rarely went out together."

"Len! You're back!"

The boy in question was randomly glomped by a blob of blue and white. He realized it was a person, and that the person was a girl, as she got off of him.

She had dark blue eyes that matched her hair (which was long and straight, with long bangs held by a white headband), a thick-strapped turquoise tank top that was cut short, a white jacket that was normal length and unzipped with a big collar, and at least five shiny silver bracelet hoops on each wrist. She wore a silvery grey miniskirt with below-the-knee leggings the same color as the shirt, and white and silver sneakers. He noticed that on her right ankle was a small red number and name like Len's, except hers was 06, and the name was half-covered by her fuzzy, stripey blue and grey socks.

"Oh yeah, Rin told me you lost your memories," the girl said brightly, holding out her hand. Because she was 5' 3" (taller than both of the others), her hand was also tilted downwards. "I'm Shion Kaikoni. You can call me Kaiko."

Len shook. He noticed she wore a pair of headphone things too, but hers were shiny silver with turquoise on the sides.

"Kaiko, you really need to learn how to slow down..." muttered a new voice as the owner stepped in and closed the front door. He looked similar to Kaiko, with dark blue hair, a pair of black and silver headphones, dark eyes, and a light white jacket with dark blue jeans and t-shirt. The collar was high like Kaiko's, and the sneakers were the exact same.

"Kaito..." Kaiko whined, but even as she said so, she wheeled the boy over to Len. "Len, this is Shion Kaito. He's my older brother. I'm thirteen, he's fourteen."

Len had to literally look upward to see his face, because he was 5' 7". "Whoa. We have to be, like, the shortest people in this neighborhood. He's a foot taller than you, Rin. I almost thought I was fairly tall, but..."

Kaito smiled. "Not my fault I was born into a tall-people family."

"Aaaaanyways," Rin said, cutting over their conversation, "we all decided to go shopping today, so are you coming or not?"

"Fine, fine," both boys said at once. They looked at each other in surprise, then laughed. And then all four left for the mall.

"Wait, what if I don't want to go shopping?"

"LEN!"

* * *

He was alone, out of breath, and gasping for air to fill his deprived lungs. He knew he had to get away, but he didn't want to go any farther.

"C'mon, Mikuo," said a voice above him. "Momma said-"

"I don't care what Mommy said!" Yelled the boy, called Mikuo. "I'm resting! I wasn't suppose' ta run like this! I'm not fully devilloped!"

"Developed," the voice corrected. "Mikuo, we have to go. I promise we'll rest at town."

Mikuo continued panting for air, then used the tree trunk to pull himself up. "You better know where you're goin', Akaito, cause I don't."

The older-looking boy looked down. "Don't worry Mikuo..."

He took the boy's hand and started walking again through the trees, giving the little boy a reassuring smile.

"...I know exactly where we're going." _Maybe._

* * *

"I take it back, this was SO worth it."

Len and Kaito walked happily out of the front of a game store at the Mall, laden with three bags each of bought games and trinkets from them. They had huge, cheesy grins on their faces, and they looked like they'd just found a gold mine of infinite wealth or something.

"What did I tell you?" Kaito replied. "Shopping has its perks. Just don't go with a bunch of girls, they only shop for clothes and earrings."

"Blech," Len said, blanching. Clothes shopping sounded like torture.

"Hey guys!" Kaiko said, waving with her free hand to the two. Her other arm had three bags on it, and Rin had six. Len raised an eyebrow at the brand names: all clothing stores.

"Told you so," Kaito said. "They're crazy."

"So are you," Rin stated, peeking inside one of Len's bags. "Seriously? _Of Legends and Magic?_ That game is super old."

Len pulled his arm away. "Kaito wanted it, not me! Plus, I wanna play it regardless, I haven't played games in my memory so far!"

Kaiko sighed, taking a bag off her arm and handing it to the blond boy. "Here, we bought these for you because you don't really have that many clothes."

"...Thanks...?" Len said, hiding the bag logo between two of his own bags, so as not to be seen with a bag of (shiver) brand-new mall clothing. "Anyways, we probably need to go home now, so let's leave."

"Agreed, this place is unbearable."

"KAITO!"

"What?!"

 **SEE? I TOLD YOU it was horrible! Anyways, yeah, Mikuo is here! Yayyy! And I won't tell you who he's traveling with until you get another snippet into their lives. And Kaiko looks different because I didn't just want her to look like a female Kaito, so her hair's longer and she wears turquoise too.**

 **You might think this is all about Len, but actually... Nuh. Nuh, bruh. There's like 10 or 11 mains here. Don't worry, I won't go overbearing on POVs, there's only two or the occasional three to a chapter. I have up to Ch. 11 written now, and I'm going to wait until I publish that to write more. For the next 8 weeks the updates will be every Saturday (incl. this one), and then they'll just be kinda sporadic. Until next time! ~Kara**

 **RANDOM FACT: Vocaloid: There are approximately 39 derivations of Kaito, including Kaiko, Kageito, Musaito, Zeito, and Kagetaiko. That's a lot! NEXT FACT: About Sword Art Online!**


	4. Chapter 4

**JK I had Akaito's name in there and didn't notice... Oh well, I'm not fixing it. Here's Ch. 4, and their POV once again. This is a rare three-POV chapter, so enjoy. And... I'm sorry in advance to all those who thought Miku would have a physical role in this. I don't own Vocaloid.**

"Akaito, Akaito!"

"Mikuo!"

"Aga? Agaaa!"

"Where'd they go?"

"I dunno."

Two black haired children ran through a dense, fog-covered forest, calling out names and looking around frantically. They looked exactly the same, but one was a boy and one was a girl.

"AKAITO-!-!"

The girl stopped running, putting a hand on the tree next to her. "Rei... I can'... Keep runnin'..."

Rei stopped and turned around, pulling the girl to her feet. "Mama told us ta get ta Number Ten! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

She pulled her hand away and hissed. "We rest now."

"Rui, we gotsta find Ten. Now! Pleeeeaaassee!"

Rui groaned. "It's gettin' dark. I can' see in the dark. Didn' Mama teach ya how ta make fire?"

Rei frowned. "Darkness... Oh yeah, that jus' means ya can' see very good, huh? Well, Mama did teach me how ta make fire. Help me find some dry wood."

A moment later the twins had a decent pile of twigs going. Rei stood back from it and gestured to Rui, who could now hardly see in the dense fog and growing darkness of night. In the forest, no stars managed to penetrate the barrier of lavender-grey, either that or they weren't showing their faces tonight.

Rui sighed. "Fine, I'll start it. But jus' so ya know, I'm not very good at startin' fire even though it's my sub-El."

Before Rei could reply, she put her hand together with the sides touching and her palms facing out. Her face was one of concentration, until suddenly a yellowish spark flew from out of her fingertips and lit the pile of tinder into a weirdly yellow and blue flame instead of the usual orange and red.

Rei frowned. "Well, 's definitely not perfect, bu' 's not bad either. Night, Rui."

Rui glared a bit at his arrogant comment on her magical flames, but sleepiness glazed over her eyes and she too lay down on the damp, brownish soil of the forest floor. "'Gnight Rei, s'ya tomorrow..."

-:-;-:-

"A-Akaito-nii-sama, can we st-stop soon? I'm tired... I can't g-go very f-fast at night..."

Akaito frowned. "Dude, can't you get energy from the stars or something like that?"

Mikuo frowned in thought, bracing his hands on his knees as he stopped for the third time in ten minutes. "Nope. Stars are a different type of light, created to shine through darkness, but never get rid of it. I can't really draw from it, my direct source is the sun."

"You have waaaaay too much insight for an eight-year-old," Akaito laughed. He ruffled the short boy's aquamarine hair. It was an unusual color, but it was Mom's color, so Akaito liked it somewhat. "What's up with that?"

Mikuo gave him a disapproving look as he shied away from the touch to his scalp, which he did not very much like. "I'm older than you by a few months and you know it! Just because your simulator wasn't at a rate slow as mine doesn't mean I'm younger. That's why I'm so insightful; I'm more of this world and the elements of it than any of you. Except maybe Aga, but that's 'cause he's Aga. Now are you going to make us a fire or not? We have to stay for the night."

Akaito sighed. "You make for some very strange company, friend. Anyway, come on. Let's find a decent clearing first, so we're not surrounded by trees."

Mikuo nodded, and the two set off to find a clearing. After about five minutes, however, Akaito felt a tug to his left. It wasn't so much a physical pull than it was an intense feeling, and it was a warm feeling, no other way to interpret it. He veered toward it, knowing what it was.

He saw the yellow light through the purple-black fog first, and Mikuo next because he couldn't see well. The older-looking boy pulled a silver chain with a pendant out of his pocket before he got too close.

Mikuo turned his attention from the light to the necklace, standing on tiptoe to see it. "You haven't shown me your barrier. Let me see." Akaito showed it to him. It was a flat, circular, opaque orangey-red gem with a shiny sheen to it. Etched in the center was a basic symbol for fire, and on either side was a feathery wing, one pale red and one pale cerulean.

"It's pretty," Mikuo commented holding up his right wrist, where a silver chain jingled. On it was a translucent white oval, with a white and a light teal wing. The gem was clouded up like it was a diamond once, infused with white quartz squirted in as a liquid. "Mines boring."

"I think it's cool," Akaito said, feeling the warm sensation wash over him as the source of the light was shown: a fire. As Akaito got closer to it, the flames changed from blue and yellow to a healthy red, orange and pale blue, as if reacting to him. They saw two small bodies curled up next to it. "Hey, we found the Dark Twins."

"Shh!" Mikuo hissed, putting a finger to his lips. "They're asleep. We can hang out here for the night and tomorrow we can look for Aga and Funo with them."

Akaito put his hands straight into and thorough the flames, adjusting the burning branches, before extracting his hands. They were not burned and nothing seemed to have happened to them. The two of them went to sleep next to the black-haired twins, Rei and Rui, who would wake up the next morning to a surprise.

~:~;~:~

"DR. HATSUNEEEE!"

Dr. Hatsune, more often known as Miku, stood up from her position on the floor. Her mascara was now running in grayish streaks down her cheeks, and the rest of her green and pink makeup was spread on her face from running her hands on it. she ran to her desk and wiped her face off, checking it in the mirror. Though she was now without makeup, at least it wasn't spread all over her face. Her pigtails had also fallen loose in the breakdown, so she retied them as fast as she could, using her frilly white scrunchies she used more often than not. The teal-colored hair still fell past her hips, even tied up.

Miku replaced her emerald-rimmed glasses and stood professionally next to the door to her lab, Lab 27, as it slammed open and a man ran in. He wore a black suit that may have once been new and glossy, but was now dulled and rumpled, wrinkled everywhere, like he had been running a lot. His hair, windswept and messy, and also slightly oily, was a dark brown that might have been black in the dark. His eyes were the same brown, but unlike his hair they had specks of gold in them. Those eyes were flaring with rage, and he looked around the office frantically.

The name and title of this man? Uchate Ryuku.

His eyes locked onto the teal pigtails of the twenty-two-year-old alchemist. Miku smiled warmly, as if this was normal. "Hello Dr. Uchate. What is the problem?"

Ryuku glared, then gestured to the ten tubes against the wall. They were large enough to fit himself and Miku inside shoulder-to-shoulder, and went from floor to ceiling. Because of the clear walls you could clearly see all ten were empty. "I speak of the Vocaloids! They are gone, and you know where they are. Where have they gone?"

Miku smiled once more, this time confused. Despite the look on her face, she spoke with determination and resolve. "I have sent them off to live in the world independently as they were meant, Dr. Uchate. I do not believe in terminating lives."

"Where?" Ryuku asked again, eyes crazed and worried. "Dr. Hatsune, if they have been sent out instead of being... terminated, as you put it, I am afraid I cannot guarantee you a spot in our League any longer... In fact, we may not let you have a spot on this green Earth after we are done."

Miku's smile faltered a bit, and by the end of his speech she was frowning. Her mouth set into a firm line, and she glared at the thirty-year-old man who ran her League of Alchemists. "Dr. Uchate, are you suggesting that I should have ended innocent lives, and that for not doing so you shall end mine? I hardly believe that fair."

"Enough!" Ryuku cried, pulling a dagger from his suit coat. He advanced upon the young woman, who stood firm and resilient. "I am deeply sorry for this, Dr. Hatsune, but-"

"Mom!"

A voice fitting that of a teenage boy before puberty filled the air, and Miku was pushed aside by a blur of white, black and electric blue. She cried out, not from the surprise rescue, but from the fact that the boy had been there to save her in the first place.

"Piko! Why are you here? Run! Run away!"

The boy, Piko, stood up and looked at Ryuku defiantly, though he spoke to the girl on the ground. "Sorry Mom. I didn't leave, and I could be putting my life in danger, but I don't care, because after all, I'm not real. You are, and you have something you need to do before you die. I can't let you die at the hands of this crazy."

Miku's eyes started welling up with tears. "Utatane Piko! Don't you dare say you are not real! Anything sentient and filled with emotion is alive and real!"

Piko looked at her with a grim smile before looking back to Ryuku, who now held the dagger tighter and advanced upon the young boy. He glared at him so intensely he actually stopped in his tracks for a moment, and in that moment Piko ripped something off of his right wrist.

As an electric blue light engulfed all of them, Piko said, "Mom, I'm gonna protect you and you better live, okay?"

Miku said nothing but stared.

Ryukuk had to shield himself from the intense light, and when he reopened his eyes Piko stood again, this time looking different. The older man rushed the young boy and stabbed him in the shoulder, making him fall to the floor. In his moment of weakness, Dr. Uchate ran around him straight for the woman he was protecting.

Miku screamed. "PIKO!"

Piko screamed. "MOM!"

Ryuku grinned and let the knife go through her heart, staining her white coat red and her long, teal hair dark brown.

Piko sat on the ground, unmoving, staring at Miku as her head hit the floor and her eyes shut, never to open again. As Ryuku stood, presumably to fight him, he picked up the bracelet he had torn off earlier and ran out of the room through a secret passage, not thinking of looking back for hours on end.

 **(Sniff) There you go. Piko. But now there are many mysteries - what is Miku talking about, why does Piko call her mom, who is the Aga and Funon Mikuo talks about, how is Mikuo older than Akaito, and that's just getting started. (Ahem) Anyways, yeah, I gave Rei and Rui accents because I think they'd sound cuter. And seriously, guys, review! I have one word! Pleeeease? And you can also start requesting characters you would like to appear, they can be anyone - plain ol' Vocaloids, recolors like the Shion Family, Voyakiloids like Haru, Genderbends, Fanloids, alter egos, I don't care, I can fit them in. I just want **Most** of my characters to be from the Fandom. Review, recommend, and read when I publish next Saturday! See ya~!**

 **~Kara**

 **RANDOM FACT: Sword Art Online: Approximately 3853 people were killed in SAO. Someone actually went and read all the novels, watched all the clips, and counted. I applaud the determination of that person. NEXT TIME: Vocaloid!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry about tha twait, guys. I tried and got grounded twice, so... yeah. No proofreads or fun facts today, I'm just uploading to get this out to you. Sorry for mistakes. Oh, and I don't own Vocaloid.**

The rest of Saturday, Len and Kaito played The Legacy of Heldinia series, from Harp of Ages to Tales of the Ocean II. Len loved all of them, logically. Rin and Kaiko were trying out all the new makeup and mail polish they bought at Icing... On the boys. They washed it off, but their fingers were still tinted various colors and the females had been sure to capture photos of their makeup-caked faces.

"You know Rin, I'm starting to wonder if you're my - good one, Kaito, gosh why are you so good at MarioKart - if you're my sister or the demon in my closet that - Kaito! I'm trying to lap you! Stop trying to win! - in my closet that enjoys putting me through various methods of torture."

The race ended with Len in first and Kaito in third, with a space filled by Baby Luigi. Kaito made a face upon seeing the tiny Luigi. "Jeez, that version of Luigi creeps me out. Anyone else?"

"I dunno..." Len squinted, tilted his head, and inches closer to the TV, even though he was two feet away to begin with. He sat back and nodded in confirmation. "If you look at it at the right angle, Baby Luigi almost looks like Rin."

"Hey!"

Kaiko simply laughed while Rin fumed and stormed off downstairs to her room. Before she could say anything, her cell phone started singing Titanium by David Guetta and she answered it quickly, motioning for the boys to stay quiet.

"Hello?... Hey Mom. ... Nothing much, just hanging at the Kagamine's. ... Yeah, I guess. ... Mmhmm. Yeah. Bye."

Kaiko sighed and turned to her blue-haired brother. "We gotta walk home, Kaito. Sorry Len." Len nodded in understanding, and then Kaiko turned to the basement and healed, "RIN! Were leaving! See you Monday! Len's walking us home!"

There was a very muffled "Alright" from the Twins' room before Kaiko dragged the blond and the bluie out the door, shutting it behind her.

Len ripped his wrist away, massaging it with his other hand. "You have really strong grip, Kaiko. Can you be gentler next time?"

Kaiko sighed. "You're such a baby... Come on, I wanna show you something before we get home. Kaito, you still remember the Final Hour Falls, right? Cause I forgot the first and last turns."

Kaito recited in a monotone voice. "Right, left, trees, left, right, straight, straight. If I remember."

Len started jogging with them, but he looked confused. "Final Hour Falls? Is that where we're headed?"

Kaito nodded, gesturing with his free hand toward a line of trees at the end of the street. "That forest is nicknamed Hideaway Forest. There's so many secrets there, and Kaiko and I founded Final Hours Falls around a half-year ago. It's cool. We've taken you there a bit. Kaiko loves it."

By now they had reached said treeline. The Kagamine in the group could see it going for miles. It was super huge. Kaiko smiled and led the way, going down an old, worn dirt path that forked within visible distance.

Len entered last, and as soon as he entered a thick blanket of lavender and gray fog engulfed him. He shivered from cold and a twinge of something he couldn't identify - it wasn't fear, he was more scared of spiders than this foggy forest, but it was a bad feeling... Foreboding, that was it. Something weird and bad would happen while they were here.

Kaito turned right and Len followed, lost in thought. He subconsciously fixed the headphones on his ears, until he noticed that the Lareta twins has a pair of headphones with the same logo on the side (which he guessed was also on his): A large C, circling around an M rounded to fit inside. Kaito caught his look and asked, "What?"

Len blinked. "Nothing, just... Where'd you get those headphones?"

Kaito put his left hand protectively over the side. "They're a Limited Edition Silver Headset from Crypton Media. We bought one set and got Kaiko's free. Yours are from Crypton Media too..."

Len put his own hand up to his headphones, feeling them and finding the small rises creating the Crypton Media logo. "Cool..."

Kaiko yelled over her shoulder, "Nee, Kaito! It's up ahead! Cover his eyes up!"

The blue-haired boy nodded to her and stood behind Len, putting his hands over his eyes. Len didn't resist; he liked surprises. He could soon hear the sound of rushing water, and the strange, foreboding feeling of the cold mist left gradually. Kaiko took a breath so deep Len heard it instead of saw, and then yelled, "WELCOMEEEE... To Final Hour Falls!"

Kaito took his hands off the blond's eyes, and it took a second for him to get used to the light. As soon as he did, he gasped. He was standing at the edge of a fairly large, deep, clear lake. He could see all the way down to the bottom, where large boulders looked like fist-sized rocks - it had to be twenty or thirty feet. The setting sun glinted off all edges of the pool, in orange light, making the place feel surreal. To his left was a waterfall, almost three times his height, flowing downward in a wave. It wasn't as loud as normal waterfalls, but there wasn't much water going down and it was pretty thin. The grass was long and green, fed by the cool mist from the forest around. The trees surrounding the clearing were still bare, but many had started getting small leaves and the closed buds of cherry blossoms. Wildflowers sprouted in groups every couple paces, and a large willow tree, still in full leaves, was dripping into the lake across the water (a distance about as long as the lake was deep).

"What..." Len breathed, looking around. The place felt surreal, bathed in an orange light, radiating peace.

Kaiko smiled. "Knew he'd love it." She grabbed her brother's hand. "We have to go home now - Len, there's a straight path to your right that'll lead back to the neighborhood. See you later!"

Len nodded absently, still in awe at the place he found himself. He didn't know why it was called Final Hour Falls, but he guessed the blue-haired siblings had something to do with it. The waterfall was really pretty though, as was the rest of the place. Len sat down cross-legged in the grass, which was so high it almost folded over onto the top half of his legs. He sat back and took in the beauty of it, and nearly fell asleep, but he forced himself to get up and go home before crashing into his bed.

When he did get home, using the path that Kaito and Kaiko had pointed out, he went to his room after calling out to his mother (her name was Lilith, but he called her Mom). Rin immediately jumped him.

"Kagamine Allen, where did you go?"

Len didn't know his real name was Allen. Cool. Then he pulled Rin off of him and sat down on his bed (which was parallel to Rin's, with two blankets of yellow and white), replying, "I went to Final Hours Falls with Kaiko and Kai. It's pretty cool." He tried not to show just how much he actually loved the place - he was pretty sure he'd go there a lot.

That night, as Len drifted peacefully off to sleep in a nice house in a nice neighborhood, a boy of the same age sat against a tree in the forest crying. At the same time, two black-haired twins slept at a fire, and a redhead and a tealette settled down next to them. None of them guessed what would happen to them - whether in the near of far future.

 **Aaaand many points of view are finally opening up! The next chapter won't be very long nor have Len in it, finally.**

 **I love my image of FHF. It's freaking beautiful.**

 **Bai!**


	6. Chapter 6

Akaito was the first to wake up out of the four around the fire. The flames had burned off the mist, but it still clung around the damp bark of the trees and just outside the fire's reach. It was very early morning, while the sun's rays were still glowing pink and orange through the murky gray sky, and through the fog it looked blended and splotchy and surreal in a strange, slightly creepy sort of way.

Akaito flicked his hand toward the fire lazily while standing up, and the flames sprang back to life, immediately warming the occupants of the clearing and scaring off the lavender fog for a couple more paces. The sudden surge of warmth made the little girl Rui stir, and Akaito stood behind her while she sat up.

"Rei...?" She mumbled sleepily, hands rubbing her eyes. She glanced around and saw Mikuo sleeping next to the other black-haired boy and made a high-pitched noise of happiness. "Mikuo!" She looked behind her. "Akaito! Ya foun' us!"

Akaito smiled, running a hand through his red hair. "Yeah... We found you while you were sleeping. I fixed up your fire. Good job on it for a first try, by the way."

Rui smiled widely before jumping up, suddenly awake. She gave the taller boy a hug around his middle. "Ya two are awesome! When Momma gets out ta fin' us we'll all be tuhgether!"

Akaito smiled, but sighed and shook his head. "Am I the only one of this group who has good grammar?"

"I don' have bad garamar!" Rui protested, though she pronounced the word wrong, making Akaito smile again. "Rei 'n I jus' have gutter accents. Tha's what Momma called 'em, anyways."

Akaito didn't reply, but instead looked over to the two young boys on the other end of the fire. The tealette suddenly jerked in his sleep before sitting up quickly, sweating. He had a scared, distant look in his eyes.

Akaito went over to him, taking Rui off. She trailed behind, going to her brother to wake him up. "Mikuo." The boy didn't respond. "Mikuo." The redhead touched the green-eyes boy's shoulder. He blinked and shivered, despite the warmth of the fire. Then he hugged himself, eyes locking onto the oldest boy as if trying to pull himself back to reality.

"A-Akaito-nii-sama..." Mikuo said. Akaito looked at him expectantly. "I had a - a... It wasn't a dream, but it was while I was sleeping."

"What happened?"

"I was looking back at the Lab, and Mommy was there, and then Mister Ryuku was there and he - he tried to kill Mommy with a knife, but then Piko was there and he went True-Form on Mister Ryuku, but he got hurt and then- then Mister Ryuku got to Mommy and-"

Mikuo started crying silently. Akaito patted him awkwardly on the back. Rei woke up during the explanation, and the twins were now sitting behind the crying boy, looking worriedly at him. They waited for Mikuo to calm before they let him continue. "And then I woke up... I know it wasn't a dream, Akaito, and I'm not crazy either. It was too real to be a dream, and I would never dream of someone terminating Mommy. Do you think it really happened?"

Dr. Hatsune, whom they all called Mom in some form of the word, had once told Akaito about Mikuo's strange ability to see things, like visions, whenever he was in a state of peace. They usually happened a couple hours after the event, or sometimes while it happened. They only ever involved Dr. Hatsune and things that happened to her, and Akaito knew this would be the last of his visions.

"I don't think you're crazy, Mikuo, really," he assured, evading the question. "Now, we need to start moving again - now that we have more of us we'll be moving slower. Come on, let's go."

-;-;-;-

"Hey, what's yours look like?" Rui said conversationally to Mikuo as Akaito put out the fire. "Your barrier."

Mikuo showed the translucent white charm hanging from his bracelet. Rei and Rui held theirs up at the same time. Rui's was a bracelet on her right arm, and it was a dark purple circle that was almost black. On the inside of the sphere was a little lavender dot, and the stone got lighter the more it went inwards. A silver band went around the center like the equator of the earth. Rei's pendant was on a necklace, hidden under his shirt until this moment. The circle was the same size, but it was flat and about a fingernail's length thick. The color was blacker than his hair, with a silver pattern along the edges that looked like it was drawn painstakingly with shiny gel pen.

"Cool," Mikuo said. He felt a little uncomfortable around Rei's, but that was expected, because their barriers were of different cores.

Akaito started walking off and called to the three younger people over his shoulder. "You guys coming?"

"Yes, Akaito..."

"Yes, Akaito!"

"Sure, _Father_..."

"Rei!"

"What?"

_;_;_

His lungs burned, his legs burned, and his mouth was dry from gulping so much air into his deprived lungs, but he kept running. He could still sense them on his tail, even though he could not hear their voices over his breathing and frantic footsteps.

He kept running, trying desperately to fill his lungs up with air and pump his heart, and though he wanted to stop he knew that would be his end. So he ran, out of the field and into a dense forest. The flat terrain turned uneven and muddy, leaves crunched under his shoes, and the amount of light went down. He started stumbling, even more so than people with two eyes probably would. He could still fell the hot stuff running down the left side of his arms and face, a reminder of what happens when you stop running.

After he'd gotten quite a distance into the dense, leafy forest, he found two trees huddled so close to each other if you hid in the gap and pulled the branches down no one would notice you. He dived for the opening, reaching it successfully, and pulled some branches down over it.

Through the opening in the trees, he watched the Advanced team of Alchemists charge by, armed and looking around for any sign of him. As soon as they passed, his shoulders slumped and he let his muscles relax. They were all really sore from running so much for so long, and his lungs really needed more oxygen. He sat there in his hidden alcove in the trees for a while, until his breathing slowed, and then he closed his eyes - _Just for a moment_ \- and before he knew it he was sleeping.

 **I don't think I'll do beginning A/Ns for a couple chapters. Too time consuming.**

 **Anyways, yeah... Early update to make up for my recent not being heres. Introducing the new POV, and a joining of two of the previous ones! If you're a crazy fan you should catch the hint as to who the new one is, so guess away in reviews. And remember: I need some more suggestions for who you want to see come into this fic! I'm running out of options... See ya!**

 **Fun Fact: Luka was supposed to come before Miku, but troubles with her VP caused delays until 2009. Bai!**

 **-Kara**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Clutching the broken silver chain and pendant close to his chest in a balled-up fist, Piko weaved his way through the trees with the grace of an expert. He jumped over fallen trunks, ducked under gnarled branches, and dodged the large black trunks that loomed out of the pale purple, murky gray fog. Though his face was set into a blank stare, there were tear tracks down this cheeks and he was constantly sniffing and rubbing his nose.

He could sense it, coming nearer to him as he ran, the slight pull in his chest from his brother being near. After seeing Miku die he had run off, then when he'd stopped for breath he had started crying and fallen asleep, cold and huddled. The next morning - this morning - Piko had felt the tugging feeling of his brother and was following it.

The trees began to thin and the mist left, both from the sun's heat and the lack of trees to curl around. The looming shapes of houses appeared in front of the silver-headed boy, and he jogged past the backs of each one until he found the one he felt the tug from - a large, black-roofed, gray-bricked house with a large backyard to match the dwelling. If Piko looked through the windows, he could see the silhouette of a black-haired boy through the top right one. He picked some rocks up off the floor and threw them at said window, even though the distance was crazy far. All four made it to the glass and made sharp tapping sounds. The boy in the window looked up and saw Piko waving with one hand from the backyard.

Utatane Nexore jumped out of his desk chair and ran down two stories of stairs, getting to the back door just as his brother reached it. Once the screen door was slid open and shut he said, "Gosh, Piko, what happened? Something with Dr. Hatsune?"

Piko nodded, but Nexore noticed the quivering of his lip as he said Miku's title. "Hey, what's up? You're wet, freezing cold, red-eyed, sleepy, non talkative, and you look like you could really use some love. Come on."

Piko let the raven-haired boy put his hands on his shoulders and wheel him upstairs. As they went up the stairs, Nexore yelled to his father in the next room, "DAD! Piko's here. I'm taking him upstairs for a bit, don't bother us!"

The figure in front of the TV in the next room grunted in consent, and then they continued upstairs.

Nexore and Piko called themselves twins, but they looked totally different. Piko had silver hair with a part that stuck up at the top like a P, a cowlick he hated. His eyes were heterochromatic, green and blue, and currently full of sadness. He looked like a four or fifteen-year-old. Nexore, in contrast, had black hair with wild bangs that were much longer than Piko's, and his eyes were both the same orange-yellow color. He looked like he was seventeen, borderline eighteen.

Twins, indeed.

Nexore took Piko to his bedroom and sat him down onto the floor, where the younger-looking boy sat cross-legged without resistance. He was focused on a spot on the black and purple walls behind his brother, and the look on his face suggested he was thinking, of what Nexore couldn't say.

"Piko..." Nexore waved his hand in front of his face as he sat on the edge of his bed. "Piko." The boy turned his gaze sharply to the other. "What happened? It had to do with Dr. Hatsune, right? Your Mom?"

Piko's eyes gained about three more spots of light, and he was biting his lip as he nodded. Only now did Nexore notice that his left shoulder was bandaged in white bandages. He could see a teal-colored marking every couple inches along the whiteness, the seal of Hatsune Miku. Something must have happened.

Nexore knew that though Piko acted tough, he was actually very sensitive. He'd better prod carefully. "So... Who did that to you? Your shoulder, I mean-"

Piko hung his head. Nexore wondered what that meant, but then his shoulders began shaking and the carpet in front of him got darker in little splotches. Nexore jumped off the bed and put an arm around his brother, but that was all the comfort he could offer.

After a couple minutes, Piko looked up, dried his eyes on his arm, and smiled weakly. "S-Sorry... I don't want to talk about it just yet."

Nexore nodded. "Now. You're staying for the night, and don't object. You go take a bath or something while I get out the cot - and I'm sleeping on it, not you. You need some family love right now. You know you do. I'm guessing something bad happened, so I won't press, but ... tell me when you feel ready, 'kay?" Piko nodded. "Good. Now go! Bath time!"

Piko trudged off to the bathroom, and Nexore sighed and rolled his eyes before turning to find the fold-up cot.

"Nexore..."

He turned around. Piko was leaning out the bathroom doorway, holding up a charm on a silver chain. It was a triangular, flat piece of electric-blue metal, streaked with teal, and a silvery gem sat in the center. The chain was broken. "Can you fix this real fast? I can't let go of it, but I kind of need to wear it..."

Nexore laughed. "Sure."

One batch of tools and careful bracelet and chain bending later, Piko was able to slip it onto his ankle. Upon Nexore's questioning gaze, he replied, "It bothers me to have stuff on my wrists. Thus, ankle bracelet."

"Okay then. I'm getting the extra bedding out. See you in a few."

"Yeah. And Nexore?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"Yup."

-;-;-;-

Len felt like he was getting through school good. He had all his A-day and three of four B-day classes with Rin, so she was there to help. Being in a room with so many people was a little uncomfortable at first, but he would get used to it eventually. Right now though... Weird.

Rin dragged him out of Art Foundations so fast he didn't know if it was his sister or a tornado. She took him to the open cafeteria in the middle south side of the school and dropped their stuff collectively onto two small, round tables big enough to sit four comfortably and six if you tried. Then she sped off to the pizza line. Len followed like a lost puppy.

A minute later the twins returned to the table to find two more binders there, that had the exact same color scheme of pale purple, gold and very dark gray. Much like those two, Rin's and Len's were only or mostly the colors gold, black, white and a little dark purple.

Len raised an eyebrow as he sat down, moving his binder to the floor. Rin replied, "That's Megs and Mega," before stuffing her face with pepperoni, cheese and tomato sauce. Len shrugged and dug into his single slice of pizza as well.

A moment later a pair came to sit at the table too. One was a girl, with dark brown hair dyed pink at the ends as well as highlights. Her outfit was made up of a dark grey tank top over a dark yellow tee, dark grey jeans and a necklace with a plain, pale purple teardrop-shaped gem on it.

The boy looked like he could be her sister, but it was only because their eyes were the same shade of green, a vibrant but dark color. His hair was a much lighter shade of brown, almost honey-colored, but he did have highlights in dark purple. they streaked his hair so much it looked like it was part of his natural hair color, and it made nice contrast to his normal brown color. His shirt was a t-shirt colored light gray, with English lettering on it in black. He wore knee-length denim shorts and purple sneakers.

"Hi Rinnie!" The girl exclaimed. She turned to Len. "Oh, this is Len! He's adorable! Hi! I'm Megurine Luka. Call me Lu or Megs. This is-"

"I can introduce myself, thank you Luka," the boy sighed, cutting her off. "Hey Len. I'm Megurine Luki. We're siblings but two years apart. She's going to high school next year. You can call me Mega like Rin does or just Luki."

Luka was already into some deep conversation about the hottest and latest gossip going around - ew, girl stuff - with Rin, so Len ate lunch in silence, still feeling very claustrophobic even with only this many people within such close proximity to him.

"You ever talk?" Luki asked, as he sat on the small stone riser-bench separating their level of floor from the next.

"Yeah..." Len replied, throwing his empty pizza tray into the trash can a couple paces away.

"School getting to you?" The taller boy continued, resting his elbows on his knees while grabbing Luka's binder. "It got to me when I first got here in elementary a while ago."

"This is my first ever day at a real school building," Len confessed. "I've been homeschooled my whole life." He muttered the next part. "That's what I was told anyways... I don't really remember."

"Ah, homeschooling," Luki reminisced, looking up out the window in mock flashback. "Homework could be turned in anytime... You weren't in school for seven hours... Sleeping in..."

"Don't remind me," Len groaned. "I woke up five minutes late and then almost fell back asleep. Can't school be at like five in the afternoon?"

"I wish," Luka quipped, as the girls entered the conversation. "But then we'd be there until midnight."

"So? I could sleep it off until like one," Len argued.

The four continued talking about whatever came to mind until the bell rang for the next class, and Len walked away with two new friends. Yeah, he was going to be great at school.

Until Math, that is.

 _Dear Math, screw you. Love, Len._

 **Behold, the beauty of Original Characters. I actually created Nexore for another story I never published, but I decided to use him here instead. He's a cool kid. Just imagine Piko with orange eyes, black hair and no cowlick, taller, and eighteen. Bam, that's Nexore. Which, for the record, is said nex-or-ay. Not the Japanese way of saying it.**

 **Tell me what you think! And tell me that math sucks! 'Cause it totally does! See ya later!**

 **FUN FACT: In the anime Fullmetal Alchemist,** **In an episode in the 2011 anime, it says that the hotel room they're staying at is 503 which is also a jeans company, also known as EDWIN. It sorta foreshadows the Ed & Winry thing.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hallo guys... I'm back. Happy New Year. I would've uploaded sooner but I was sleeping until like eleven in the morning. ...Hey, I was up until 4:30 AM! Don't judge! Aaaanyways, to celebrate I'm gonna upload this chapter. Enjoy a new character.**

Chapter Eight

In the dense forest you could see nothing but leafy trees for miles. There were only a couple disturbances that could be major - a brown bear, a fallen tree, and a twelve-year-old boy running.

He wasn't going as fast as he had, because he knew how that had ended. But he had to run before the Alchemists caught his scent with their Earth Powers. As he ran he thought about her, and his last words and interactions that would ever be friendly.

 _She stood with her back to him, long, curly blond hair concealing her outfit all the way down to her knees. Even through the thick curtain of golden locks, he could clearly see her shaking shoulders._

 _"A-Are you okay?" He asked tentatively. He put a hand on her shoulder, catching sight of a white lab coat._

 _White lab coat?_

 _"Of course I'm not okay!" The girl cried out, turning away from him again. He didn't try to reach her again as she began sobbing while talking. "I - I was forced to join the Alchemists because they threatened to kill me. Master Ryuku-sama said he'd kill me in front of you - I can't have that happen, you're so young..."_

 _"I'm 4 1/2 months old! That's older than Luka and Maiku!" He argued. "And - and..." He looked down, heartbroken, as her words sank in. "I... thought... I thought..."_

 _"Thought what?" She snapped, agitated._

 _He looked up with sadness and fierceness in his brown-gold eyes. "I thought that you'd keep your promises! Remember, just two months ago? You and I promised that no matter what we wouldn't go against each other-"_

 _"They would have killed me!" She yelled, anguish, sorrow and anger clear in her face and dark eyes. "I love you, but I don't - don't want to ...to die..."_

 _He turned away partly, as if shunning her. "Promises like that one are worth so much more than lives, SeeU."_

 _SeeU's cheeks were stained wet with silent tears as she choked out the next line. "O-Oliver... I love you, I really do, but -"_

 _"Don't."_

 _The word was simple and curt, and the meaning was clear. Oliver's eyes watered and he blinked furiously so he wouldn't cry. He had once loved SeeU, the girl with long blond hair and stunning eyes and perfect everything - but she had gone against their promise and joined the people he hated. So he didn't love her any more._

 _Cries and shouts sounded from the hall. "Destroy him!" "Where did he go?" "What about SeeU?" "Who cares! FIND NUMBER EIGHT!"_

 _SeeU reached out a tanned, freckled hand for her former lover, but he didn't bother looking back as he jumped out the open window._

Oliver remembered the rest of that meeting. Upon jumping to the ground he'd nearly broken his ankle, and the stall had given SeeU and the other Alchemists time to catch up to him. They'd tried to kill him, but all they'd done was give him scrapes on his ankle and legs. The worst thing they'd done before he got away was a Fire spell to his left eye and it was now bandaged as well as his legs were they had managed to cut. While they argued, he ran away and they'd chased him for 3 hours until he hid and got away.

Now he was searching for civilization. For a normally city-filled place like this it was really hard to find a town. Or maybe he was just unlucky. Whatever the case, he was getting tired.

Oliver's nose caught the scent of food - real food. The wind suddenly moved to blow from the source to himself and he could also catch the scents of other house things - and he could hear very faint shouting. The town was probably beind a couple lines of trees.

 _Good thing I didn't miss it,_ he thought, _or I would probably be killed. Not that it won't happen anyways._

He jogged through the trees, being careful on his bandaged ankle, until he reached the fences of the backyards of the houses. He found the smell of the yummy food coming from the house directly in front of him, with a plastic white fence made to look like wood. Sounds of a small, happy family sounded from inside, and Oliver decided it would be a good place to crash.

As he vaulted the fence effortlessly and headed for the front door he heard the voices inside. "Ah, Henry... Do you think our lovely Cerisya will ever return home?"

"I'm sure, dearest. She promised to be home tomorrow." He noted that they spoke in English, his favored language.

At Oliver's knock the voices quieted. The door opened to reveal a portly black-haired woman with a curious smile and small brown eyes. She looked at the bandaged boy on the doorstep before saying kindly, "What is it, little one?"

Oliver smiled back. When he spoke, the English held a British accent. "Hello. Sorry to be so sudden, but have you heard of the Alchemists?"

"Of course, but what's this all about?"

"Well, I was just running from them and... this happened. I'm trying to find a place to stay for tonight, but it's getting late and you seemed like nice people. Could you allow me to stay for one night?"

The woman smiled, pulling the door open wider. "Of course! We seem to be a magnet for travelers and wanderers. This isn't the first time someone has come to stay for a night or two." Oliver stepped in, and was enveloped by nicely hot air and lamplit halls. "However, you're the youngest boy I've tended to. What would someone like you be doing running from Alchemists?"

Oliver weighed his options. He could tell the truth or he could keep this to himself and lie... but he hated liars, and he wasn't about to become one himself. "I don't know if you've heard, but the Alchemists have been doing studies on human souls. They've been creating a type of artificial human called Vocaloids - it means False Human in the Alchemists' language."

As he spoke, they walked, and the last part was heard by a thin, blond-haired and balding man sitting at the kitchen counter. He chuckled. "Ah, the Vocaloids... Yes, we've heard of them. A fascinating experiment, don't you think so? Our daughter Cerisya works there as an Air Alchemist - she has a knack for the element."

"Ah yes," the woman exclaimed, snapping her fingers as she returned to something simmering over the stove, "Names. I am Dewata Penelope. This is my husband, Henry, and our daughter Cerisya will be returning tomorrow night. What is your name?"

"Funonori Oliver," he replied, nodding.

"Nice to meet you Oliver," Penelope smiled over shoulder as she spoke. "You are our eighth traveler this month."

Oliver laughed, and got a questioning look in the piercing hazel eyes of Henry. "Eight is a strange number for me. I'm a Vocaloid, and that's my number."

Penelope stopped stirring for just a second. " _You're_ a Vocaloid? Really? You seem like a completely normal human, not an artificial one..."

"That was the point of Vocaloids, to create an artificial human you can't tell the difference of. Humanoid robots and the like, they have settings and they're usually loyal. Plus, their brain structure is different than a human's by a long shot. Vocaloids, on the other hand, have the same brain and soul structure as normal humans. We don't have alliances, we have free will, and we're usually smarter than you'd expect for whatever we look like. Anyways, I'm the eighth Vocaloid, so that's my number." Oliver pulled his left sleeve further up his arm past his elbow. On the inside of his forearm was a red number - 08 - and under was his name in smaller letters, Funonori Oliver. "These are our tag numbers - they're tracked by the Alchemists of our element."

"It's nice to meet a Vocaloid after hearing about them," Henry remarked. Penelope simply nodded and set soup out on the table. There was not much more talk after that, because the three were all digging into their food.

* * *

"Rin?"

"Yes, Len?" Rin marked the page of her romance novel with a finger and turned to her brother, who was sitting cross-legged on his bed with his left side facing her. He was tracing the 02 Kagamine Len mark on his shoulder as he spoke, the book in his lap forgotten. "What's this for?"

"Um-"

"And what's this for?" He held up the necklace he wore with his other hand, still not looking up. Rin could have ignored him, but there was a kind of determination in his voice that said he wasn't giving up until he found his answers.

"Well-"

"And these?" He dropped the necklace and tapped the ear of the headphones. "I know there's something about these things. Kaiko has them all too, but her number is 05. I want to know, and if you won't tell me then someone else will."

Rin sighed. He might as well. She closed the book completely and turned to fully face him. "Okay... I'll tell you."

 **Shameless short Len part was shameless. I didn't want to make this longer than the 1,611 words it is already. So... next time, friends. Next time. See ya.**

 **-Kara**


	9. Chapter 9

Kaiko walked on her tiptoes, even though she knew there was no one out there to hear her. There was something about the silence of night that made you not want to break it, and she respected the night silence, so she did not do so. But some parts of nature don't care about the beauty of silence, and one of those things was the waterfall adorning Final Hours Falls.

She reached the waterfall, the loud noise not bothering her much. She came here often, so the roar had muted itself to her. Sometimes it disappeared altogether to her ears.

Kaiko took her brother's bunny slippers off her feet, a weird but essential part of muffling her steps in the forest, and wiggled her toes in the night air. She loved coming out at night to the falls, a secret activity that no one yet knew of. The lake was very shallow inside the blanket of mist that the waterfall's contact with the still water made, and many rocks stood up out of the water, making nice stepping stones. Slightly slippery stepping stones, but nice ones. Kaiko jumped across these, ignoring the mist that clung to her dark blue tee and gray sweatpants, and kept jumping. He hair was also getting soaked, so she pulled it into a ponytail with an elastic on her wrist. She reached a rock in the falling water that stuck out a ways, making Nature's umbrella over her head as she stopped.

Also beneath the rock's safety was a Kaiko-sized hole in the wall, and she squeezed into it and up a set of crude stairs. When she emerged back into the light, she was at the top of the waterfall, where a large rock shot up and outwards over and above the edge of the waterfall. The top was flat, and the set of stairs the blue-haired girl had just ascended were at the other end. She climbed skillfully to the top and sat with her feet dangling over the edge.

As she sat swinging her feet, she fingered the earring she wore in her left ear. She had a pair of earring holes for matching earrings (which were currently tiny silver hoops) and one earring that was always in her right ear - it was a deep blue sapphire the color of her hair, surrounded by tiny rhinestones the color of the sky in summer. They were all set on a white base. Kaito and Rin and a couple others were the only ones who knew why she wore it all the time.

She supposed she would have to tell Len soon enough too. But for now, she would just sit and enjoy how she could play with a limit.

Kaiko stared intently at the water in the lake under he feet. The water was still for a moment...

And then, the water started to dance.

* * *

It seemed that Akaito and Rei were the only ones of their ragtag group who had decent stamina. Rui was the first to give up, about two hours before sundown. Rei had offered to piggyback her, but she eventually became so tired that he had to carry her bridal-style and she was now almost asleep. Akaito would have teased him about it, but he could tell the smallest boy was having trouble supporting so much weight. His stamina was large, though, and he could probably easily outlast the redhead if he so chose to. Mikuo wasn't too long after her, and now Akaito had a sleepy teal-haired ten-year-old on his back while Rei carried the only female of the group unconscious in his arms.

It was almost comical.

Almost, because it was night. And the only light was a red and orange flame that was in Akaito's left hand while his right supported Mikuo. So most people looking at the scene would be thinking about why Akaito was holding fire instead of teasing them about who they carried.

The light of the fire chased away the mist, but it circled the group and kept trying to reach inside the ring of fire. Rei kept very close to Akaito, but even still the fog licked his backside and shoulders. He kept shivering and sneezing.

"A-Akaito? C-C-can we stop? Jus' f-for a min'te..." Rei asked the question through chattering teeth, visibly trembling. Akaito turned around and saw the boy shivering uncontrollably and, as if reacting to his sudden jolt of concern, the red and yellow flame in his hand got bigger and became orange and blue. It licked the hem of Mikuo's pants, and touched the tip of the redhead's finger, but it didn't seem to burn, just give warmth.

"Dude, you need to tell someone when you're getting sick! I'm younger than you and I know that!" Akaito complained, setting Mikuo gently down at the base of a tree trunk nearby. He then lightened Rei's weight by taking Rui and setting her next to the teal-haired boy, before breaking a few sticks from branches he could reach and making a haphazard fire with the flame on his finger. He blew it out the same way you'd blow out a candle afterwards.

As Rei sat next to the fire, Akaito ran his now-flame-free hand down his face in annoyance. "Rei... Seriously, now I have two sick kids and a girl to deal with... Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"'Was t-too busy wi' Ru-Rui," Rei shrugged, putting his hands literally into the flames. They wrapped around his skin and reached up his arms, but didn't burn him. In fact, he seemed completely unperturbed. As he pulled his arms out of the fire, one could see a large red symbol on his right wrist glowing from contact to the magic flames - the number 03, and underneath in capital letters, KAGENE REI. He looked at the letters as they shimmered like dying ashes, before going back to the passive red color.

"Akaito, where's yur Brand?" The black-haired boy asked, looking up at the other male.

"Right here," Akaito replied, lifting up his left pant leg. On his ankle was 06, and below that SHION AKAITO. The words glimmered and shined every few seconds like Rei's had from the fire, except his were less jumpy and constant. "It keeps glowing like dying embers because I can't hold my element very well."

"Ah, tha's why ya can use it w'out takin' off your Barrier," Rei sniffed, lying sideways. "G'night, Akai..."

Akaito kept looking into the mesmerizing dance of the flames. "'Night, Rei. Sleep well."

"Mmhmm..."

Akaito was the only one who didn't sleep that night.

 **...I dunno. I like older-brother-version of Akaito. It's just cooler to me. And as for Kaiko's part, well, she's Kaiko. Don't question it. Bye-bye.**

 **RANDOM FACT: Well, it's not really a fact, but I cannot BELIEVE the FREAKING NUMBER of SoRiku and AkuRoku fics in the Kingdom Hearts base. I mean... Guys. Chill pills. Please. (I don't mind the SoRoku AU ones though. Hah.) Anyways.**

 **Bai.**

 **-Kara**


	10. Chapter 10

**'Ello there guys. Sorry that I haven't been on this story lately. Here's the new chapter. I had to rush this up so I could get to my theater performance so I couldn't spellcheck it. Enjoy anyways.**

 **Disclaimer Renewal: I don't own Vocaloid.**

"..."

"Rin. It's been a minute and a half and you have said nothing, even though two seconds ago you said, 'I'll tell you.'"

Rin sat in silence, staring blankly at the wall in a random place. Len walked over to her and waved a hand in front of her. She snapped out of her reverie and looked at him for a moment with something he hadn't seen directed at him yet... was that... sadness? Maybe some regret from having to tell him? Should he let it go?

No, he wanted to know. It wouldn't be too much. He hated the emptiness in himself that was his memories, and he wanted them back, even if it was just knowing what they were. For real.

"You might wanna sit down," Rin sighed, and Len did so before she launched into speech.

"You're not a real person. You might wonder what this means, but it is what it sounds like. Dr. Hatsune? She's an Alchemist. An Alchemist is someone who's in tune with the elements of the world, and can use them in the form of magic. They like to dabble in the secrets no one knows about, human hybrids and souls and minds and the like. Dr. Hatsune was interested in human souls, and that's why she started creating you guys - Vocaloids. The name actually started out as a code - Vokka in the Alchemists' code is false and Loid means human - but it stuck and so now they call you all Vocaloids. Are you okay?"

Len blinked out of his own thought stupor and looked at her. To the girl's surprise, he didn't look fazed at all.

"I'll admit, that's a lot to take in, but somehow... Somehow I'm okay with it. Who're the others?"

Rin looked up as she racked her brain. "01 is Hatsune Mikuo. His soul is an almost-exact copy of Miku's - that's Dr. Hatsune - except his gender and nonphysical trait genetics. All the Vocaloids control an element, and Dr. Hatsune gave him light." She smiled and looked over at him suddenly. "I think I figured out what these things are!" She declared, pointing to his necklace. "She was talking about creating a way for you guys to hold in your elemental powers - we call it Angelic Form, but you guys called it True Form - and I think this is it."

"A Barrier, basically," Len said, shrugging. "Now, I know I'm 02. What's my element and who's 03?"

"03 and 04 are Kagene Rei and Rui. They look like nine-year-olds and it's so adorable. Rei is darkness and Rui's shadows. I dunno what yours is - you never told me and now you don't know either." Rin stood and walked over to one of her shelves, picking a music box off the edge. "05 is Kaiko. 06 is her brother, Akaito, and the two of them and Kaito are the same soul base. Kaiko's water and Akaito's fire. I don't know how they're siblings with opposite elements - how do they stand it?" Behind the box was a picture, too far away for Len to clearly see, but it was of a large group. "07 is Utatane Piko. He's about your age, I think you two got along fairly well, and he's got electricity. 08 is Funonori Oliver, the only one of all of you who can speak fluent English. He actually is English, the only one. I think he's air... 09 is Megurine Luka-"

"Luka's one of us?" Len asked, slightly surprised. He wouldn't have expected that, the way he'd expected Kaiko.

Rin smiled as she began walking back to her brother. "Yup. She's based on Luki, but I think you could tell. She controls earth, and because of it she's a giant go-green person. 10... I can't quite remember his first name... but his last name was Maiku. He's the youngest, he's only 2 months old."

"How old am I then?"

Rin sat down and handed him the photo. "You're 11 1/2 months today."

Len didn't respond. He was staring at the photo. It was two lines of people, and he recognized some of them. On the far left was a little boy who looked to be seven or eight, standing and smiling brightly in front of a young adult with hair the same teal as his. She had her hands on his shoulders, and she smiled softly. Her eyes were focused on none other than Rin, standing next to her and looking the exact same as she did now. She had arm around Len and was ruffling his hair roughly, but what surprised him most about himself was that he looked three years younger. His hair was shorter and styled differently, but he wore the same clothes. He was glaring at Rin and trying to get her hands off his head while she laughed. Next to the two blonds was a year-younger Kaito, with one hand holding a ten-year-old Kaiko's while she smiled nervously. His other arm was occupied around the shoulders of a boy who looked like his carbon copy in different colors, same age and all. Kaito's smile was small in comparison to the redhead's, whose grin seemed to go from ear to ear.

On the grass between the two groups was two black-haired six-year-olds, cross-legged. Their clothes were similar but not exactly like Rin and Len's, but what Len noticed most about them was their eyes - they were a mix of green and yellow, mostly yellow, and they almost seemed to glow. They were looking at each other and grinning in the adorably cute way only little kids can do. Next to the Shion group was two boys who looked drastically different but very similar at the same time - the taller one looked eighteen, wore black-rimmed glasses in front of his orange-yellow eyes, and had black hair with super messy bangs. The shorter one looked Len's age, with hair that was a mix between pale blue, silver and white. He appeared taller because of the 'P' on his head, and his eyes were heterochromatic green and blue. The black-haired boy was trying to get him to look at the camera, but he kept on looking away to the left of the photo with his arms crossed, the picture of stubborn defiance. A boy Len thought must be Oliver, because of his more English appearance, was sitting on the shoulders of Luki reaching up toward the sky. He looked about seven, but his hazel eyes were both full of knowledge. Luki was standing next to a pink-haired Luka, who looked the same age as the one Len knew in real life. He thought her all-pink hair was a little strange and liked the brown-and-pink better.

At the far right of the photo, standing by himself, was a fifteen-year-old with yellow-white hair that reached the nape of his neck. His eyes were red, not the nice, soft kind but not hard and piercing, just somewhere in between. He wore a gold chain around his neck along with a pair of black and orange headphones, with an orange cord that disappeared into his pants pocket. His outfit was mainly black, orange and white with a little gray and red. Len thought this must be the Maiku kid.

He and Rin sat in silence for a while looking at it before Len asked slowly, "...So this is all of us? And our soul bases?"

"Yeah." Rin's reply was short and to the point, but she pointed to the teal-haired girl. "That's your mother-slash-creator, Miku. Mikuo is in front of her. That's you and me, and that's Rei and Rui. They're adorable, I told you so. Kaiko and Kaito are over there, and Akaito's the redhead. Piko is the one with white hair, and Nexore is his soul base. Oliver is this one, that's Luki and Luka, and there's Maiku. I dunno why he's all on his own."

Len shrugged, then walked over to his side of the room and put the picture propped up on his side of the dresser. Now he could see his family whenever he woke up.

* * *

"Finally! A place with civilization!"

Such was the cry of relief that escaped Akaito's lips as he stepped into town. Rui and Mikuo were both asleep, and Rei appeared to be sleeping while walking. Akaito was the only one still awake. He looked around at the group before muttering, "Oh. I should probably find somewhere to stay."

Luckily for him, there was a house nearby with a sign in the yard that read, "Home for travelers - home hotel." Better than nothing, at least. Akaito held Mikuo up with one hand and grabbed Rei's shoulder with the other, steering him toward the house's door. It was big and red, with a nice aura.

When he knocked, the door opened almost immediately. The person who opened the door was a little girl with pure yellow hair tied in a side ponytail with a thin pink ribbon. Her hazel eyes were wide with happiness, and she wore a school uniform with sneakers. Akaito waved awkwardly at her. She looked like she was nine or ten.

"Hey! Gaku! There's some people here!" She yelled behind her. The smell of scented candles wafted out the door - cinnamon being the strongest. Rei perked up at the sharp smell and blinked a bit to try to stay awake.

"You don't need to yell so loud, Neru!" Yelled a male's voice from down the hall. A boy with hair tied in a ponytail a couple inches long came into view from down the hall, picking the little girl - Neru up onto his hip as he entered the doorway. Akaito noted his hair was a deep purple, a strange color. His eyes were also a weird mix of purple, blue and hazel, and he wore a white dress shirt with a tie draped around his shoulders and nice blue jeans. Her looked like he could be in college - nineteen or so. Neru started playing with his tie was he spoke. "I assume you're travelers, if Neru's sixth sense is correct?"

"Uh.. yeah," Akaito confirmed, shifting Mikuo on his shoulders. "We've been out for a while and we're all about ready to fall asleep standing."

"You guys are the fourth ones here," Neru said. Her voice was nasal but not snobby, and had a quality to it that made her seem like she knew things you didn't. It almost sounded like she was a bit crazy. "The last ones were three days ago."

"She's... a special one," the boy explained. He bounced her a little as he continued, "Neru's ten, but she has the mentality of a five-year-old for the rest of her life. She's also a little strange in the head - our mother was on drugs while she was pregnant with her. Anyways, my name's Kamui Gakupo, this is my stepsister Akita Neru, and we turned our house into a temporary place for people to stay while they travel. Who're you?"

"I am Shion Akaito, this is Mikuo, and that's Rei and the girl is Rui." Akaito gestured to them as he spoke.

"Come inside," Neru said, opening the door farther from her position on Gakupo's side. "Don't freeze. Gaku, I can stay here and play with them while you make the rooms, allrightee?"

The boy set Neru down and nodded. "Stay in here, I'll be back in a moment. See if you can wake up your two sleepers while you're in here."

Rei and Akaito nodded, then stepped inside. Neru skipped over to the couch in the sitting room to the right of the door and sat down, gesturing for the four Vocaloids to come in as well.

Rei set Rui down on a single-cushion couch and started shaking her shoulders. Akaito did pretty much the same thing on another couch with Mikuo. "Rui... Rui, it's time ta get up... c'mon Rui, ge' up..."

The black-haired girl moaned and sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Rei?" She yawned. "Where are we...?"

"Akaito foun' it. Said we're stayin' here tanight."

Neru bounded over to the twins. "Hi! I'm Neru, Akita Neru, who are you? I like your accent. It's cute."

Rui blinked. "Neru...?"

The yellow-haired girl nodded, then the smile faded from her face as she frowned in a calculating way. Rei looked at her questioningly. "Your eyes..." Neru said, pointing to Rui's face, then Rei's. "Those eyes aren't just for show. They glow. That means you are going to do something big... you're destined for it. Your eyes mean you're going to be something great. It's your destiny."

Rei and Rui looked at each other questioningly. Neru walked away to go speak to Akaito and Mikuo, who was now waking up. "I think..." Rei said.

"She's spec'al, huh?" Rui finished. Rei nodded, his left hand reaching up to touch his face right below his eye.

 **There you go. Gakupo and Neru. I put Gakupo in there and I needed him to have a little sister so I looked through the Wiki pages until I found Neru. And then I made her a small child because I don't like the older version very much. And yeah, she's kind of crazy. (: And No. 10 is a Vocaloid but I used one of his fanmade outfits so I will be very surprised if you can guess who he really is. Seriously. I would be super surprised.**

 **Anyways, next time (hopefully next Saturday) I can update again because I won't be rushing out the door to do my musicals. See ya!**

 **-Kara**


	11. Chapter 11

**OC time! By that I mean it's Nexore time. I'm also introducing some new characters here. You may have heard of them before.**

 **Also, long overdue review response I keep forgetting to do:**

 **Jabber Nut: Thanks. Unknown 70 is Rei, at least so I gathered. :)**

 **...Yup. That's all I have to say.**

 **No, I don't own Vocaloid... Wish I did though.**

"Piko. Piko, it's time to get up."

Piko furrowed his eyebrows and rolled over, wrapping himself further into the blankets. He looked like a blanket burrito with white-blue hair. Nexore sighed and shook his brother again. "Dude, I have to go to school. You need to get up."

The boy in bed shook his head and groaned.

"You asked for it," Nexore sighed, walking around the bed. On the other side was the edge of the blankets, and he grabbed it and pulled with both hands. The blanket burrito - and the person trapped inside - were unrolled and dumped on the floor.

Piko gave up and sat cross-legged in the middle of a pile of black and white blankets. "Fine, you win. Why am I up at this crazy hour again?"

Nexore lent a hand for Piko to use to stand up. He took it while the older boy explained, "I'm taking you with me to school today."

"Wait, what?" Piko started, jerking his hand away from Nexore's halfway through standing as his eyes widened. "No! No, no, no!"

"Yes!" Nexore replied, imitating Piko's high pitched and forward voice. He sounded like a prepubescent boy, though he looked older than that. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"I don't sound like that!" Piko retorted. "And I'm not going to school with you. High school is scary. And besides, I'm only fourteen physically. I couldn't go with you."

Nexore sighed. "It's ninth-to-twelfth private school, genius. I could just say you're my homeschooled little brother but our parents were both gone today so you came with me. A classmate of mine has a younger sister who does that sometimes. Now get changed, I grabbed you some normal-people clothes and they're on the dresser. Come downstairs when you're done."

He left the room then, leaving Piko to huff and lightly stomp to the nightstand. A white tee with black sleeves and a teal design, blue jeans and a dark teal jacket. Well, at least he chose the right colors.

* * *

"Xaiko!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Find the best Sound Alchemists there are! We need to find Number 10 at all costs! Understood?"

"Of course, sir!"

A woman in her early twenties with black hair and three purple streaks ran/marched out of a room with the words -Uchate Ryuku- on a plaque on the door. She made a sharp turn to the left and found a door with the words -Alchemy: Sound- on the door, which was pure white.

"Xaiko! Heyyy!" She was greeted with that statement as she opened the door. Five boys were sitting on bunks in various positions from sitting to lying down with his feet on the ceiling. The one who called her out was a boy on the bottom bunk on her right wearing an unbuttoned purple coat and purple pants. Five scarves were in a pile on the floor next to him, one for every color the boys wore - yellow, green, pink, purple, and white.

They looked all the exact same with different colors of clothes and hair. The one that said her name had black hair with three purple streaks, just like Xaiko's. Their hair was the same length as well, to the shoulders, but his was tied in a low ponytail. The one in the bunk above his had green hair and a green and white coat, with his feet on the ceiling. Across the room on the bottom was a yellow-haired, yellow-dressed boy reading a book, and a pink-haired one lying down evidently trying to sleep. The last one was resting with half his body off the top bunk, looking at her upside down. He had black hair and black-and-white clothes.

"I'm not here to play around, Taito," Xaiko said in a serious tone. "I need you five to track down Number Ten and bring him back here, Ryuto's orders."

"But Xaiiiiii..." Taito groaned, crossing his arms as well as his legs. "We're busy. We can do it tomorrow or something."

Xaiko threw her hands in the air. "You're just sitting here!"

"Nope," said the boy with yellow-blond hair. His coat had a distinctly different design than everyone else's, with more of the color than white and more swirly than straight lines. His hair was also the neatest. "We're busy listening to sound waves. We _are_ Sound-As, after all."

"It's very hard work, you know, Kikaito's right," agreed the one in pink and purple. "Especially for Kageito and I because we have the fastest rays."

"Mmmhmm," confirmed the young adult in black and white, Kageito.

Xaiko sighed. "I can't refuse or modify orders, especially ones directly from Ryuto. You know th-" she cut her breath off short as she took an intake of air in surprise. Taito, the one who looked quite like her in facial features, stood and appeared behind her in a matter of a few seconds, a motion so quickly done that it was scary.

"Aw, come on, X," Taito sighed, resting his head on her shoulder. She tensed. "We would love to help, we really could, but even Nigaito and I are tired from the day's work. Tell your precious master Ryuto that we'll get on the job first thing tomorrow, Okay?"

The black-haired girl sighed and ducked under Taito's head to leave. "Sure. See you tomorrow."

Bye X!" Chorused all five in unison.

If you looked closer at the door, you could see five names under the plaque scratched into the wood. -Lareta Nigaito- -Lareta Kikaito- -Lareta Taito- -Lareta Kizaito- -Lareta Kageito-

There was one more name, but it was scratched out and half-unreadable. /La-ta -a-t-\\.

 **Please, please tell me what you think about that last section. You have no IDEA how hard it is to write Kaito spinoffs just using Wikipedia personality information. I probably failed. And feel free to guess who the last one might be.**

 **This thing was less than a thousand words. Sorry for the shortness. See ya later.**

 **...I'm too lazy for anything else.**

 **-Kara**


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Vocaloid.**

 **Jabber Nut: Thanks for reviewing! And thanks for liking my persistence :) I'm gonna need a lot of that to actually finish the next coupla chapters...**

Oliver awoke sweating, but shivering despite the thick blanket over him. Gosh, of all nights why was it tonight? There were 365 days a year and it was this one.

He looked around to try and get his mind off of the dream - well, more nightmare than anything - he'd had. Sun shone through the window, still at a low angle. He glanced at the digital clock next to the bed. 8:13, not too late. If he hurried he could be out of here by nine. But then, Penelope and her husband would try to stop him from leaving to meet their daughter, whom they were so happy to see home. Oh, well. He'd look for the other Numbers some other day.

He didn't bother putting any extra clothing on and went downstairs in his white shirt and dark shorts. He made sure to bring the hat, though - he must always bring the hat.

As he was leaving the room, he heard a small thud like something soft hitting glass, a small chirping noise, and the scrabbling of claws. Being the nice person he was, Oliver ran to the window and opened it, directing the wind away from the window so he wouldn't make the room cold.

The victim of the crash was a little yellow bird - an American Goldfinch. Its wing was bent at a somewhat odd angle and it was chirping in a pained way every few seconds. Oliver winced and cursed. He continued, "Don't worry, I'll get you fixed up and then you can leave. Just don't run into a window again!"

Oliver cradled the bird in his left hand as he skipped the stairs two at a time. The guest room was on the second floor of the house, which was more of an attic level than anything.

"Oliver! Good morning!" Penelope called cheerfully from the kitchen.

Said Vocaloid took a second before replying, "Good morning," and sitting down.

The traveler's home was weird. Oliver knew he should be weirded out that these people kept a room open for random strangers, but somehow he felt like this place was okay, and in fact, it was a place he closely associated with...

 _Home..._

The smells were the same - the thick aura of candles, and under that some kind of perfume with a strong smell that always woke you up. The lighting was the same - light everywhere, and yellowish, reflecting off of white walls and giving a nice, homey feel. There was a lot of stone, too, which reminded him of the tables and the bottom of his RGS. Those things were really cool...

Oliver shook his head. The Goldfinch gave a little squeak as he clutched it too hard and he immediately lightened his grip. Henry noticed the black and gold bird and whisper-gasped, "Is that an American Goldfinch?"

"Uh, yes?" Oliver ask-confirmed, holding it out to show its broken right wing. "Its wing was broken because it flew into my window, so I thought we should help it..."

"Of course!" Penelope said, abandoning the stove to inspect the tiny winged creature. "Henry, there's some little tiny splints in the cupboard under the stairs - go get some, please. It's nice that Cerisya bought all that animal treatment stuff for us."

Oliver thought he heard the old man grumble something like, "Finally, her hobbies get useful..." before shuffling to the closet. Penelope took the little bird from the boy's hands and busied her large frame with fixing its wing for the splint. Oliver simply watched in fascination.

"He's going to need to stay with us for a little until the wing heals," Penelope said, unconsciously making the 'it' a 'he.' "You can name him, dear, because you found him."

Oliver used the first name that came to mind, which was, "James."

"Why so?" Henry returned with bird medical supplies and Penelope hurried to make a mini-cast.

"First thing that came to mind," Oliver shrugged. "I wanted a dog named James once, but it never happened. Bird's close enough."

"How long ago?" The woman asked conversationally.

"Uh... Like, as soon as I knew what a dog was, so maybe a week after I was created... two months and a week ago?"

"What?" Henry cried, surprised, as Penelope temporarily froze. "How old are you?"

Oliver smiled. "I have three ages. I appear to be twelve or thirteen, though I prefer the latter. Mentally I'm like 60, and the time I have been alive is two months and two weeks. Roughly."

All other living creatures in the room (including the bird, now dubbed James) blinked a few times as they processed. Then Penelope shrugged it off, saying, "Well, that's nice. It's also good to see a Goldfinch out here - they seem to be disappearing lately. There's a rumor around here that if these little guys stop coming, something big will happen, and although you were a surprise, Oliver, I think something larger is at play!" She laughed happily and turned back to the stove, prying the now-burnt food off of the pan. James was passed on to Oliver, who handled him verrrry carefully.

Oliver announced he would be retreating to his room for the rest of the day, which he did without fail, leaving once for lunch and once for James, who had snuck out the open door.

* * *

"Lukaaaaaaa! Gotta get up!"

Luka groaned, the sound muffled by her pillow being shoved in her face. Her hair was in tangles and spread all around her like... well, really there's no way to explain it other than a giant brown and pink mess. Luki opened her door even farther and threw one of his bright green pillows at her face, but all it did was bounce off of the back of her head.

"Luka, school starts in like twenty minutes. You should have been up forever ago." The boy said, sighing as he walked into Luka's room to retrieve his pillow. "C'mon, up. Now."

Luka gave a quiet groan of defeat and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She blinked and looked around blearily, noticing the time on her alarm clock, and then nearly screaming when she realized how late it was.

While she ran around the house, Luki just walked casually back to his room, laughing, and threw the pillow on his bed before grabbing his bag and meeting his 'sister' by the door. Even in her rush, she had still taken note of Luki's clothing choice - he was wearing the same gray shirt as yesterday (because screw you, dirty clothes hamper), darkwash jeans, a black-purple jacket, and white scuffed-up Converse. She was in bleached jeans, a pale purple tank top, white flats, and one of those weird girly jacket sweaters colored gray and held with a thin brown belt.

"Someone's acting a little too twinsey for me," Luki sighed, adjusting his bag. He was one of the few people in the school who had a messenger bag/satchel bag instead of the normal backpack, and while it looked cool, the shoulder straps _hurt_ sometimes.

"Meh," Luka sighed, using one of the many silver elastics on her wrist to pull her thick hair into a multicolored high ponytail. "So do you think Rin told Len about the Vocaloid Project yet? I wonder if he suspected me."

Luki pulled out his phone and looked at Rin's most recent message -

Rin: I told him about the VLP last night. he totally didnt suspect Luka c(: his face was nearly priceless

"Nope, he didn't think you were one."

Luka looked slightly hurt and fingered her Barrier necklace. "Aw, is it the plainness of the Barrier? I should have picked out a different one... Mom said her favorite was this one that was purple and it had bright green stripes on it and-"

"Please don't start," Luki sighed, walking down the street. "Sometimes I don't get how we were created from the same soul when we're so different..."

"Well, there were a lot of variables going into the project. Mikuo, Rui, Oliver, Piko and me all almost failed and Oliver was stuck in disabled stasis for like a month because he was the first with his own soul base. I'm surprised he even made it out with all his functions intact. Even so, he's still kind of got the mentality of an eight-year-old."

Luki shrugged. "I've been living with you for what feels like forever, but I still know little to nothing about you guys. And I feel kind of glad to even know about you guys in the first place, and even more awesome to be one of the soul bases. Anyways, there's people around now. Different subject."

"Sweet! So, apparently, there was a late-night party for the popular kids last night, which I don't get - it's a school night, geniuses - and..."

Luki sighed and prepared to listen to seven hours of gossip and girl stuff. Oh, the joys of having a sister.

 **So, this is probably going to be the last chapter for a while. I actually wrote most of these a couple months ago and posted them when I could but now I have to write them out. Tell me, guys! There's too many POVs now for me to choose which ones to do. So, you guys can help me pick. Who do you want to see more of now? Anyone but Maiku is up for grabs.**

 **If the time frames of this confused you, the morning is the same one. It's the same morning as the one Piko woke up on and the morning after the last night you saw Len (which was also the night Akaito and Rei found Neru and Gakupo). So they should all be basically on the same time frame now. Who do you wanna see next? Tell me!-!-!**

 **See you later!**

 **-Kara**


	13. The AN Thing

'Ello guys! It's been a while since I've updated but a) I was grounded and b) I was watching and then writing FullMetal Alchemist so... Yeh. I have chapter 13 halfway done now.

I'm doing the POVs of Piko and someone else next chapter. Seriously guys. Tell me who I need to put in. There's Oliver, Luka/Luke, Rei/Rui/Akaito/Mikuo/Neru/Gakupo, Len/Rin, Zaiko/Taito/Kizaito/Kikaito/Nigaito/I-Don't-Even-Know-The-Other-Ones, or Kaito/Kaiko. Go on. Tell me who I should write. DO IT...

Luv y'alls. Bye.

-Kara96


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